


Timberlake Café

by Jacie_popslash (Jacie)



Category: NSYNC, Popslash
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Cock Slut, M/M, Restaurants, Waiters & Waitresses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-12-18
Updated: 2003-12-18
Packaged: 2018-01-02 10:31:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1055724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/pseuds/Jacie_popslash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance thinks he’s in a relationship with JC, but learns the truth when they both end up working together at the Timberlake Café. JC is a slut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Timberlake Café

Lance came home, upset, slamming the door shut and dropping his briefcase heavily to the wooden floor, before settling into the livingroom chair to brood.

“Lance?” his roommate called.

Lance didn’t answer. Seconds later his roommate walked into the room clad only with a towel wrapped about his waist. “Lance! You scared me to death. I thought you were a burglar.”

Lance rolled his eyes around their small apartment. There wasn’t much worth stealing. “Robber, JC. If you’re home it’s a robbery. If you’re gone it’s a burglary.”

JC snorted, not really discerning the difference. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been fired, JC. Our whole department was cut. They gave us two hours to get our personal effects, our final paycheck and get out. Bastards.”

“Why didn’t you call?”

Lance’s glare was fixed on something across the room.

“Do you want me to call in to work and stay home with you?”

“Hell, no,” Lance shouted. “Someone around here has to earn some damn money. We do have bills to pay.”

This time JC rolled his eyes. So much for consoling Lance. Instead, JC walked away, dressing in his black slacks, white shirt, tie and shoes. And his apron. JC always took his time in the bathroom, which aggravated Lance to no end, but at least Lance worked, or used to work, days and JC worked nights. And Lance honestly did appreciate the results. He was still brooding when he suddenly smelled JC’s cologne wrapping around him, followed by JC’s arms, loosely hanging around his neck. 

“I’ll try to get back early,” JC promised.

Lance slept in his own room that night. He had almost slept on the couch with the television on. It’s not like he would have to get up in the morning. When he woke, he was slightly disappointed that JC hadn’t crawled into bed beside him. Walking into the hall, he could see JC asleep in his own room. Lance couldn’t really blame him. He had yelled at JC when he got home and losing his job clearly was not JC’s fault.

When JC woke up around noon, he found Lance on the couch watching television. Or rather, not watching television. He was actually reading the want ads, with the television on in the background. JC sat down beside Lance, kissing his temple, then leaning his head against Lance’s shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just need to find another job. I cannot not have a check coming in. Damn school loans, rent, car payment and every other thing. There’s just nothing out there.”

“I know it’s not what you want, but we had a cook quit two nights ago. They haven’t hired anyone yet. I talked to Joey. He said you can start tonight.”

“Cooking?”

“You said you cooked while you were in college, so you could go to class during the day. Same thing here, only you can work nights and go on interviews during the day. It’s money Lance. It’s twelve dollars an hour to start. Full time. Benefits. Everything. Just give them a little notice when you find something else. Okay?”

When Lance cocked his head, to think about it, JC already knew the answer was yes. Lance didn’t want to take it, but he rather take it now and have income immediately, instead of waiting two weeks. From looking through ads in the paper, he’d probably still be looking for work in a couple weeks. Maybe even a couple months. It wasn’t all bad, he reasoned, after all, JC would be there.

“I’ll call Joey,” JC beamed. Lance heard JC chatting excitedly on the phone for two minutes before he returned. “You have to bring in your driver’s license and social security card tonight. Actually, he would like you to come in at two, so they can teach you the position before tonight. He said you can wear a white shirt and either blue jeans or black pants with black rubber soled shoes.”

“No tie?”

“Not for cooks, silly,” JC giggled as he ruffled his hand through Lance’s hair.

“I don’t have any black shoes that aren’t dress shoes.”

“Take a pair of mine. An older pair. I need nice looking shoes. You don’t. Take a scuffed pair, okay?”

Lance patted JC’s hand and leaned up to kiss him. JC was older than Lance. He had other roommates before. Lance remembered he had been young when he showed up on JC’s doorstep, answering an ad for a roommate. The apartment was in what was considered the gay part of town, so Lance had hoped. His last roommate had thrown him out when he had found out Lance was gay. When he met JC, he figured JC was either gay or bi, or really wouldn’t care. After all, he had to know what neighborhood he lived in. And, although the apartment was sparse, JC did have a flamey air about him. And the shirt he was wearing when he answered the door, the purple one with the little birds on it, screamed gay. Lance had been right.

JC had had a boyfriend then. Lance didn’t. But JC seemed to go through boyfriends pretty quickly. Lance never asked why. He just watched them come and go, eating breakfast with them the morning after, before JC woke up, or entertaining them while they were waiting for JC to get his hair just right. Lance smiled. JC spent more time in the bathroom than any man should. Even a gay one. Even a gorgeous gay one. 

One night, when JC was between boyfriends, he had stayed home with Lance to watch movies, drink beer and eat popcorn on the couch. Lance had gotten hard just from JC curling up beside him and occasionally brushing their hands together in the popcorn bowl, which was sitting in Lance’s lap. Then JC had asked him why he didn’t ever go on dates. JC had asked if there was a girlfriend or boyfriend back home he was trying to be faithful to. Lance had looked into JC’s blue eyes, deeply, and told him he couldn’t date because he couldn’t get his mind off JC. JC had smiled and went back to watching the movie. And eating popcorn. And drinking beer. But when they went to bed, JC had wrapped his arms around Lance’s waist, leaned his head on Lance’s shoulder and followed him into Lance’s bedroom. And had stayed there. JC hadn’t brought another man home since that night. 

Lance watched JC and grinned.

“Lance! Job! Get dressed! Go!”

Lance laughed softly and rose from the couch. When he walked by JC, he brushed a kiss onto JC’s lips, nipping at the lower one. “Thanks. For the job.”

JC watched Lance walk down the hall to his room then called after him, “What? No thanks for the shoes?”

“Later,” Lance called back, without looking. “I have a job to go to.”

Lance was always a good student, so it didn’t bother him much when he walked into the Timberlake Café, only to have an Italian man sit him at a booth with a stack of paperwork and two job manuals. Lance had actually met Joey before. Sort of. He had picked JC up after work a few times when JC’s car was broke down.

After thirty minutes, Lance felt a hearty slap on his back. “How’s it going, Bass?” Joey asked him. “Any questions?”

“No. I think I can handle it.”

“The kitchen is back through those doors. If you get lost, ask. Come back when you’re finished reading through everything. All this signed?” Joey indicated the stack of forms.

“Yeah, everything. I’ll be finished reading in a few minutes. I should come back and find you, right?”

"Right."

When Lance walked into the back he thought Joey must have been kidding about getting lost. There were two doors leading to the back, one was clearly marked ‘exit only’. Once he went through the other door, Lance saw a dishwasher to the left, and a server’s line to the right. Beyond the server’s line was the cook’s line, easily visible through the server line. On the other side of the server’s line was an office and a hallway. Lance walked the ten steps it took him to get from the door to the cooks line, wondering how anyone could possibly get lost.

Lance had been hired to make salads and sandwiches. Joey ran him through his station then took him back to the cooler to show him where to get items to restock the line. They walked through the cook’s line and Joey showed him where to hang his jacket and where the employee break room and bathrooms were. There were two, one marked ‘ladies’, the other marked ‘gentlemen’, but Joey informed Lance that ‘ladies’, really meant front of the house, the managers, hosts and servers, while ‘gentlemen’ meant back of the house, meaning cooks and dishwashers. Joey was the kitchen manager, but he still used the cooks’ bathroom anyway.

Lance was getting the hang of things before JC showed up. There were generally five servers on week nights, three on week days (but JC asked for nights so he could sleep late), and up to ten servers on Friday nights and all day on Saturday. The café was closed on Sundays, the owner’s rules. He wanted everyone to have one day off. The full time staff generally worked their shifts six days or nights. The part time staff generally worked Friday nights and all day Saturdays and picked up any shift the full time staff wanted to give up. Not everyone liked working the six days. JC often worked all six days, but the part timers knew he could be easily talked out of a shift here and there. 

Joey worked every shift. Usually. If he was short a cook, he just worked two stations himself. They usually only had two cooks during the day and four at night, plus a dishwasher each shift. If the dishwasher didn’t show up, the cooks got stuck with that, too. Joey worked the middle station, which was wheel and saute. He handled calling tickets and all the pastas. Kevin was the fry cook, handling the fryers and pizzas. He glared at Lance when he arrived. Apparently Kevin was next in line to be promoted to the deli/salad station, but either it was Lance’s experience or JC’s convincing that put Lance onto that station. Nick was the broiler cook, the one Lance would be working most closely with. He would have to stock Nick’s station during the meal rushes and would have to count on Nick to pass him any grilled items he needed.

The evening waiters began flowing in just before five. The night shift started out fine. Most of the servers noticed the new cook and either walked the couple steps back to the cook’s line to say hello, or they merely introduced themselves through the window that was used to pass food between the servers’ and cooks’ lines. 

The only one who didn’t introduce himself was a young curly haired blond. Lance stared at him, while Joey left the line to talk to the servers.

“That’s Justin,” Nick informed Lance. “Don’t mind his shit, but be nice to him.”

“He’s awful young to be the head server,” Lance noted.

“He’s not. He’s the host. But don’t call him that. He likes to be called the Maitre D.”

Lance snickered, “So he’s a pompous ass?”

“He’s the owner’s son. Be nice to him. He can make your life hell if he doesn’t like you. He can have you fired in a heartbeat. I think he may be in college now. He doesn’t really associate with us cooks. I’ve been here two years, though, and I know he was in high school when I started. So, he’s been the Maitre D since he was sixteen, if not earlier. But like I said, he doesn’t have much to do with the cooks. Joey’s been here like six years and he’s like family to the Timberlakes. Joey’s your boss, so keep him happy and you should be fine.”

“This is just temporary. I lost my real job.”

Nick frowned, “This is a *real* job.”

“I mean, I work with computers. Programmer.”

“Yeah? I’m in communications. Couldn’t find a job in my field either. Kevin’s a trained EMT, but he can’t find an opening either. Joey is the only *real* cook here, I guess.”

Lance frowned. Kevin may be the only one in the restaurant trained to save lives and he already hated Lance. “So what’s Joey doing talking to the servers?”

“Nightly specials, stuff we need to push before we have to pitch it, overstock, stuff that is cheap for us to make, more profit for the café.”

After the servers’ line meeting, they set about in small groups cleaning the line and checking the stock, making sure they had enough glasses, salad dressing and ice to get them through the shift, or at least a good part of it. Lance watched JC. The shortest of the waiters, Chris, seemed to stick a little too close to JC to suit Lance, but he tried to ignore it, thinking it was just his imagination.

Around eight o’clock, Lance knew it wasn’t his imagination. When JC picked up his food, Chris seemed to always be right there, offering to help. But it wasn’t that. It was the way, he rubbed right up against JC’s back. The way he whispered into JC’s ear. Lance was sure he saw Chris actually lick JC at least once. Then there were the few times Chris had picked JC’s tips up for him and shoved them into JC’s back pocket with a little more touching and smiling than was really necessary and now, now Chris was rubbing his crotch against JC’s butt, while whispering in his ear. And JC was smiling. 

Lance was fuming. He didn’t notice Joey yelling his name. He did notice when Joey grabbed his arm and shoved him against a wall. “Bass, look. You must know that JC is gay. I mean you’re friends. He recommended you. All the guys in the front are gay. You’re just going to have to deal with it, okay? We’re all straight, they’re all gay. It’s not a big deal. I promise to protect you if any of them start looking at your fine Bass ass, but---”

Lance turned his head away, not meeting Joey’s eyes. His voice was soft, too soft for the cook’s line during a meal shift, but he said it anyway, “I’m gay.”

Joey cocked his head, not sure he heard that right, “What?” 

Lance sighed, brought his eyes up to Joey’s and told him, “I’m gay. I don’t have a problem with---”

“Then get the hell back to work, Bass.”

An hour later, as the shift was slowing down, Joey sent Lance to the stock room to get a few things to restock the line. Lance saw there was a waiter in the stockroom as he entered. Chris.

Lance never gave him a chance, just slammed him hard in the back, “Lay off JC.”

Taken by surprise, Chris lay sprawled face down, amidst the straws and sugar packets Lance had made him drop. 

Lance grabbed Chris’ shirt, pulling him to his feet then pinned him to the wall, Lance’s arm across Chris’ neck, “You. Lay. Off. JC.”

Chris swallowed and gasped for air, “Dude, what’s your problem? What goes on between JC and me is none of your damn business.”

“I think it is my business.”

Joey walked in on them. “Bass! What the hell is your problem. Let Chris go.”

Lance shoved Chris back against the wall, hard, as he let him go.

“He seems to have a problem with me and JC,” Chris informed him, a little shaken.

“Bass, you said you’re gay yourself, so what is the problem here? Jealousy?” Joey paused, reading Lance’s face. “You are jealous. Dude, JC is Chris’ boyfriend, they’ve been seeing each other for ages.”

Lance looked up in shock, “That’s not true, JC is my boyfriend. He. And I. We. We live together.”

Now Chris looked shocked, glancing up at Joey, he stammered, “JC said he wasn’t seeing anybody, man. Really. I mean, we’re just fooling around anyway. JC said he wasn’t into the commitment thing.”

“Okay, okay,” Joey said, running his hand through his hair, before replacing his chef’s hat. “Look, you both work here and JC works here. We need to get through the shift then maybe you all need to go have a chat about this, okay? But not here, not now. We have to finish the shift and close down.”

Joey waited for Lance to leave then helped Chris pick up the straws and sugar packets. “Sorry man, Bass has been watching you two all night, but when I said something to him earlier, he told me he was gay himself and didn’t have a problem with you two. I never would have thought. I mean. I knew he knew JC. I knew they were friends. JC is the one who recommended him, but. Shit.”

“It’s okay, Joey. I just. I didn’t know JC was living with anyone. I had no idea. We just go to my place all the time because it’s two doors from here and I don’t have a car. If I went to his place, he’d have to bring me home, you know? My place is just more convenient. But I never thought---”

JC walked into the stockroom, grinning. “I wondered what the hell was taking you so long. Klutzy tonight?”

“Only when your boyfriend decks me,” Chris scowled.

JC’s face scrunched in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about Chris?”

“Lance said he’s your boyfriend. And he doesn’t like me being around you. Apparently.”

“Hmmm. Well, he’s not. I mean. He is my roommate. But he’s not. Like. My boyfriend. Or anything.”

“Do you sleep with him?

“Well, um. Yeah. Sure. I mean. He’s hot. He. He never gets laid or anything. He needed someone. I was convenient.”

“He thinks you’re his fucking boyfriend.” 

JC laughed, “I’m just his *fucking* roommate. I’m his fuck buddy, that’s it. We’re not. Together.”

“He thinks you are.”

“Chris, I told you. I’m not into the commitment thing. I---”

“Did you tell him?”

“Hmmm,” JC pondered, looking at the ceiling. He couldn’t remember ever actually telling Lance that, but surely he knew. “Lance saw the parade of guys I brought through the apartment when he first moved in. I mean, he must know that I’m not into that. I mean, he should know.”

“I think you and your roommate need to have a talk.”

Joey cleared his throat, “Look JC, I told these two to finish out their shift then go somewhere and work it out. Maybe the three of you can go get a drink somewhere and figure everything out.”

“I close tonight, but---”

“Why don’t you tell him whatever you have to tell him then he and I can go have a chat at the bar. If he’s your roommate, he can’t be all that bad. He was just jealous. I think I can handle him,” Chris offered.

“Carter’s closing the kitchen tonight, so I’ll tell you guys what. JC, you tell Bass whatever it is you need to tell him, then Chris and I will take him down to the bar and chat with him while you’re closing down. I’ll make sure it stays friendly. I like Bass, he’s a good guy and a good worker. I think this is just a misunderstanding that we can work out over a couple of beers.”

Chris grinned, “You just want to get some of that fine Bass ass yourself, Fatone.”

Joey chuckled, “You’re right. I wouldn’t mind a piece of that.” He winked at Chris, before walking away.

When business died down and the pre-close was done, leaving the lines and dining room reasonably stocked and clean, all the employees were let go, except for the closers, usually a manager, a server, a cook and a dishwasher. On busy nights, they often kept two cooks and two servers to close. As Lance was finishing his pre-close list, JC approached him. 

“Lance, can I talk to you a minute? Please?”

“Kind of busy here, JC.”

“Joey asked that we talk before you leave.”

“Go on,” Joey ordered.

Lance dropped his towel and plodded after JC without another word.

JC led him back into the stockroom, where Chris was waiting for them.

A wave of shock dropped Lance’s jaw with the realization, “You are fucking him, aren’t you?”

JC reached to put his arm around Lance’s shoulder, but Lance shrugged him off. “Baby, I thought you knew. You saw all the guys I brought through the apartment. I thought you knew I wasn’t into the commitment thing. I just like. The sex. I don’t want to be tied down though. I’m sorry. Chris is. Chris understands that.”

“But we live together.”

“We have separate rooms.”

“You sleep in my room more than you sleep in your own.”

“You’ve seen me bring other men home.”

Tears were forming in Lance’s eyes. “Not since we’ve been together.”

“Lance. Sweetie. We’re not together. I’m. I’m sorry. I just can’t make that kind of a commitment right now. I’m. I like to. Experience different things. Different people. I do. I do love you, Lance. I do. But it’s not enough.”

Lance crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away as the tears began to fall. JC walked over and hugged him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you thought. That. I thought it was just. That you were. Alone. That you needed something to get you by. Until you met someone. Chris, can you take him? Lance, I have to go close, but Chris is going to take care of you. He’s a good guy. You can talk to him.”

Chris stepped forward, pulling Lance into a hug. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t know about you, really. We. JC and I. We hook up at my place. Two doors down. It’s convenient. I didn’t even know he had a roommate at all.” Chris swayed his body, rocking Lance gently, while rubbing a hand up and down his back to soothe him.

After a few minutes, Joey appeared in the stockroom. “Carter’s got it, so we can go, anytime. Bass, you okay?”

Lance sniffled, pulling away from Chris’s arms with reddened eyes. He looked miserable.

Joey dropped a reassuring hand to Lance’s shoulder. “Let’s go out the back.”

Joey tossed Lance his coat as they headed toward the back door of the café. Chris followed. The bar was only half a block away. Chris wondered for a moment whether Lance was old enough to drink, but figured Joey must know, since he did the paperwork when Lance was hired.

Joey led them to the far end of the bar, “Do I need to sit between you two?”

“No, we’re good,” Chris assured him, tossing an arm around Lance’s shoulders. Lance was walking slowly, his arms still folded across his chest.

They each ordered a beer and settlied onto bar stools. Chris and Joey watched the sports highlights. Lance stared at the bar. Only until his beer arrived. Then he stared at his beer.

Chris dropped his hand onto Lance’s knee. “Are you okay, Lance?”

“I just. I thought I meant something to him. I thought. I didn’t know. I.”

“Lance. Look. JC and I have been hooking up for a long time. Only on nights that we work and not every night. He told me a long time ago that he couldn’t deal with being in a long term situation. He didn’t want any commitment. Just friendship and sex. He dumps anyone who starts acting possessive or jealous. He’s told me he’s been with other men. I knew about it. When he’s not with me. Sometimes I see marks on his neck, on his chest.”

“How long?” Lance whispered.

“Jeez, since JC has been at the café, really. Maybe a couple weeks after he started. About four years.”

Lance couldn’t stop the tears. He had only been living with JC for about a year and they’d only been sleeping together about half that long.

Joey gulped his beer then wiped his mouth. “Bass, I hate to tell you this, but JC is the café slut. He’s been with all the gay guys and half of the straight ones. He’s so damn thin and pretty and sweet that, hell, when you’re drunk enough, he can pass as a chick. I guess. I mean. I’ve been with him, too.”

Lance’s eyes grew wide, “Shit! I sure know how to pick them, don’t I?”

Chris moved his hand from Lance’s knee to his shoulder, draping it across Lance and pulling him close enough to kiss his cheek. “Baby, look, you’re young. And JC. Man, I love the guy, but he’s kind of ditzy. I know he wouldn’t have tried to deceive you. If he says he thought you knew then he really thought you knew and were cool with it. Can you deal with this? Him being with other guys? Because Joey is right, it’s not just me.”

Lance shook his head. “I don’t understand. How can he? I just want. I want. Just him.”

“Baby, you need to decide if you can deal with him being with other guys, or you need to let him go. He is just not the sort to commit to any one person. If he was, shit, Lance, I would have grabbed him myself. A long time ago. But I accept him as he is. He needs his freedom, so I let him go. And he comes back. He keeps coming back to me. But I know I’m not the only one.”

“I can’t. I can’t do that,” Lance sobbed.

They drank and talked until the bar closed and they were thrown out. Joey wondered why JC had never joined them, but figured he had forgotten and went home. JC was a ditzy guy sometimes. Chris sure was right there. He also noticed Lance was way too drunk and upset to be driving himself home. At first Joey smiled in relief to see JC’s car on the parking lot. JC would be sober, so he could take Lance home. But then he glanced over the lot again. Lance’s car, Joey’s car, JC’s car and Justin’s car. Robbie and Nick were gone. Joey stopped.

“I don’t like this, guys.”

Lance stopped, sniffling, but whatever was troubling Joey eluded him.

“They shouldn’t be here this late. Robbie would be the last one out. He should be here if they didn’t finish.”

Realization slowly dawned on Lance. “You think they’ve been robbed?”

“Maybe. They could have taken Robbie’s car and---”

Lance had run to the front door, pulling on the handle frantically.

Joey jogged over to him. “I have keys.”

They walked in quietly, searching the room. Nothing seemed amiss. All the lights were off, except the one near the cash register, which was always on. Joey stopped, listening. There were sounds coming from the back. He turned, whispering, “You two stay here. I’ll check it out.”

Chris and Lance nodded, but followed after Joey anyway. As he pushed through the door, he noticed all the lights were still on in the back. 

On the servers’ line, they saw JC lying on the floor naked. And moaning. His eyes shut. Clothing placed haphazardly on the table above him. And his body covered in whipped cream. And Justin, also naked, was licking it off and using his fingers to draw whipped cream designs across JC’s stomach.

Joey threw his arms out to the sides and backed up as quietly as he could. He pushed Chris and Lance back through the door and into the dining room. Chris tried to dart around him and look again, but Joey stopped him.

“Damn Joey, that was hot! Totally. Hot.”

“You need to go home, Chris, and I have to take Bass home.”

“He shouldn’t be alone, Joey. He’s upset. And drunk. He can stay with me.”

“You only have a one bedroom apartment.”

“Yeah, but I do have a king-sized bed,” Chris winked.

~END~  
December 18, 2003   
© 2003 by Jacie


End file.
